New Delhi, Oct 4 — Corruption is emerging as one of the biggest hidden costs to Bangladesh’s development, increasing the burden on citizens, discouraging investment and weakening trust in public institutions, according to recent findings and analyses highlighted in a discussion on governance and economic growth, a report has said.
While development is often measured through indicators such as highway construction, industrial expansion, power generation, exports and GDP growth, experts argue that another key measure is the ease with which citizens can access public services without paying bribes or navigating bureaucratic hurdles, acording to the Bangladesh-based The Financial Express report.
They note that corruption is not only a moral or governance issue but also an economic one, as it raises transaction costs, undermines institutional efficiency and reduces public trust.
According to the analysis, corruption becomes entrenched when unethical practices gradually gain social acceptance, with individuals benefiting from personal connections or rule-bending often being rewarded, while adherence to regulations is viewed as impractical.
Such attitudes, experts say, weaken institutions and increase the cost of doing business. Studies based on World Values Survey data have indicated a link between trust, morality and economic growth, suggesting that societies with stronger institutional trust tend to experience smoother economic transactions and lower business costs.
The issue has gained renewed attention following Transparency International Bangladesh’s (TIB) National Household Survey 2025, which found that 81.6 per cent of households experienced corruption while accessing services and 63.6 per cent were compelled to pay bribes.
The survey estimated the total value of bribe transactions during the reference period at Tk 126.33 billion, equivalent to 1.58 per cent of Bangladesh’s revised national budget for FY25 and 0.23 per cent of GDP.
The survey covered 15,715 households and examined experiences between November 2024 and October 2025, the report noted.
The findings also highlighted how deeply corruption is embedded in everyday interactions with public services. According to TIB, 81.5 per cent of households that paid bribes reported they could not obtain services without making such payments.
Public awareness of grievance mechanisms remains limited. More than half of surveyed households were unaware of how to file corruption complaints, while only 10.3 per cent of those who encountered corruption lodged formal complaints. Among those who did not complain, 61.3 per cent said they viewed corruption as an unavoidable part of the service delivery system and believed reporting it would make little difference.
The survey further found that corruption disproportionately affects lower-income households. In the five sectors identified as most prone to corruption, households below the poverty line spent an average 5.1 per cent of their annual income on corruption-related payments, compared with 3.2 per cent among households above the poverty line.
Analysts said this effectively makes corruption a regressive tax, imposing a heavier relative burden on poorer sections of society, as per the report.